Scipio Aemilianus Africanus (185-129 BC). 1867 illustration of the Ancient Roman politician and military commander Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus (Scipio Africanus Minor; Scipio Africanus the Younger). Aemilianus served as consul in the Roman Republic twice, first in 147 BC and then in 134 BC. He is best known for the siege and destruction of Carthage during the Third Punic War (149-146 BC), which he took command of in 147 BC. This illustration shows Scipio Aemilianus Africanus visited by his adoptive dead grandfather, Scipio Africanus or Scipio the Great, the hero of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), as narrated in the Somnium Scipionis or Dream of Scipio, from the sixth book of the dialogue on Roman politics 'De Republica', written by Cicero between 54 and 51 BC.